Street Roots vendor profile: Something to prove

“It’s not in me to sit still,” Tony said. “It’s either talking or doing. I’d rather do.”

While Tony was waiting for this interview, he busied himself and swept the Street Roots floor clean. At the same time, he teased Executive Director Kaia Sand about sweeping her off her feet and joked with another staff person by saying, “Are you calling me trashy?” when they handed him a trash bag.

“I love Bugs Bunny, and if you saw what’s going on here,” he said, pointing to his head, “you’d notice I never let that go, ever. I never let the cartoon go. It is so cool up here.”

Since he was 15, Tony has lived in the Portland area off and on and in the rural towns of Sandy, Estacada and Rhododendron.

“I just like the woods better because I’m a fisherman. That is my church. That is how I decompress,” Tony said, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. “It’s just me, the rocks, the birds, the wind – and the fish biting.”

When asked about his favorite fishing spot, Tony said: “Olallie Lake because people don’t get into it in early spring like I do. I’ll hike into that sucker. It depends how far down the snow is.”

Tony also fished for a living.

“I used to do fishing in Alaska. The Bering Sea was awesome,” Tony said. He described riding in a fish trawler that was loaded down so low “you’re no longer looking down on the water, you’re looking through the water.”

He raised three sons and got them into adulthood.

“I used to be one of those people that drove by and gave, and now I am homeless,” Tony said. “I didn’t have it in me to call my kids (and tell them). This is a whole new education. I can’t let this get me down. Yeah, I’m disabled. I’ve got issues, sure.”

The difficulties to get re-housed have only spurred him on.

“It can be frustrating,” he said. “It can make you give up. I can see why people give up. I get it. You know what? Now I’ve got something to prove.”

To help himself, Tony is taking Rent Well classes. Rent Well is a tenant education course funded by the city of Portland and carried out by Transition Projects. Class members learn about how to be good tenants and the responsibilities of landlords. Successful graduates are eligible for a landlord guarantee fund, which provides an incentive for landlords to rent to them.

Tony said he is learning so much that he started writing a book called “From Home to Homeless and Back in 90 days.”

“It’ll have everything I’ve learned,” he said. “Don’t give up, be driven, and know that you can do it.”

Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots